my prospects but my honour was engaged; that before a week
I should be far away, without any power to control, without any means to
observe them. They knew well that, thus circumstanced, I must lose; and
that if I lost, I must sell my commission, and leave the army beggared
in character and in fortune.'

'And now, my dear friend,' said I, interrupting, 'how happens it that
you bet with men of this stamp? I understood you it was a friendly
match, got up at a dinnerparty.'

'Even so, Jack. The dinner was in my own rooms, the claret mine, the men
my _friends_. You may smile, but so the world is pleased to call those
with whom from day to day we associate, with no other bond of union than
the similarity of a pursuit which has nothing more reprehensible in it
than the character of the intimacies it engenders. Yes, Hinton, these
are my sporting friends, sipping my wine while they plot my ruin.
Conviviality with them is not the happy abandonment to good fellowship
and enjoyment, but the season of cold and studied calculation--the hour
when, unexcited themselves, they trade upon the unguarded and unwary
feelings of others. They know how imperative is the code of honour as
regards a bet, and they make a virtue to themselves in the unflinching
firmness of their exaction, as a cruel judge would seek applause for the
stern justice with which he condemns a felon. It is usual, however, to
accept half forfeit in circumstances like these of mine: the condition
did not happen to be inserted, and they rejected my offer.'

'Is this possible,' said I, 'and that these men call themselves your
friends?'

'Yes, Jack; a betting-book is like Shylock's bond, and the holder of one
pretty much about as merciful as the worthy Israelite. But come, come!
it is but boyish weakness in one like me to complain of these things;
nor, indeed, would I speak of them now, but with the hope that my words
may prove a warning to you, while they serve to explain the service I
look for from you, and give you some insight into the character of those
with whom you 'll have to deal.'

'Only tell me,' said I, 'only explain, my dear O'Grady, what I can do,
and how; it is needless for me to say I 'm ready.'

'I thought as much. Now listen to me. When I made this unlucky match
it was, as I have said, over a dinnerparty, when, excited by wine and
carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment, I made a proposition
which, with a calmer head, I should never have ventured